I have said numerous times before that Genesis forms the foundation for the entire Bible. Today we are going to jump forward into the New Testament and take a brief glimpse at how the Gospel of John pulls themes and ideas from Genesis 1–3, and also how the first Epistle of John pulls themes from Genesis 4.

Calvinists often use 1 John 5:19 to teach that the world is controlled by the devil, and is therefore totally depraved and unable to believe in Jesus. In this post we consider 1 John 5:19 in context and see that John is calling on all people to choose whom they will serve – God or wickedness. 1 John 5:19 does not teach total inability, but its opposite.

I am convinced that one reason for the rise of popular-level Calvinism in the United States over the past 30 years is because of the popularity of the NIV. In some places, the NIV translation is so bad, I wish people would just rip those sections out of their NIV BIble.